


made you smile and look away

by shermanerm



Series: Makin' (New) Memories [1]
Category: Let's Play Cyberpunk Red - Polygon (Web Series)
Genre: A bit about school dances but not really, Dancing, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pining, Present Tense, There is so much pining it is unreal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26171587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shermanerm/pseuds/shermanerm
Summary: "Do you wanna?"Vang0 jerks awake. "Mmmwhat?""Do you wanna dance?" Burger is grinning at him, in that dazzling way that Vang0 can't ever seem to get accustomed to. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"
Relationships: Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz
Series: Makin' (New) Memories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900543
Comments: 11
Kudos: 29





	made you smile and look away

**Author's Note:**

> I was in a writing slump and then this idea came and slapped me into my notes app, thank you hyperfixation
> 
> Title and mentioned lyrics are both from Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby by Cigarettes After Sex.

"Do you remember school dances?"

Vang0 glances over at Burger, the Chainz-man himself, sitting cross cross apple sauce in Vang0's creaky second-hand desk chair. From Vang0's liquid sprawl across his bed, he can only see the lower half of Burger's face, jaw glinting from the light of the monitor. It's a nice jaw, Vang0 thinks objectively, strong and complimentary to the face it's attached to. Vang0 can't help himself from imagining what that jaw feels like under the palm of his hand. Under his lips.

Then he remembers that Burger definitely asked him a question and instead of answering Vang0 just thought about mashing faces with his good buddy ol pal. Y'know, like normal people do, he's sure.

 _Fuck_.

"Wha-uh- oh. Nope." Having finally fully registered Burger's question, Vang0 flops back down onto his threadbare quilt. Audio processing is hard work, he deserves to relax.

He can still see a sliver of Burger's face, can see him attempting to frown around that (frankly magnificent) jaw. "Aw, I'm sorry bud, I wasn't thinking."

Vang0 waves a hand above his head, letting the dim light glinting off his many rings lure his eyes away from his _platonic friend, damn it._ "It's no big." 

The room is silent but for the clacking of Burger typing on Vang0's mechanical keyboard. It's soothing, and Vang0 dozes.

"Do you wanna?"

Vang0 jerks awake. "Mmmwhat?"

"Do you wanna dance?" Burger is grinning at him, in that dazzling way that Vang0 can't ever seem to get accustomed to. "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

Vang0 snorts and turns his head fully away from his closest friend. "There's not-" enough room, he wants to say, but rent was really tight last month and he did in fact sell his couch so he could eat, and fuck. There is now enough room to dance in his shitty studio apartment, and Vang0 can't tell if that's ironic or just plain depressing. "There's no music," he says after an unholy motherfucker of a pause.

Burger chuckles and pulls out his phone, tapping a few times, and a poppy classic starts playing out of his mediocre speakers.

Vang0 cannot believe this is happening. "Burger, do you really expect me to reenact a school dance with you at 2 am in my apartment." 

Burger leans into his field of vision, and Vang0's hands itch to pull him down onto the bed. It would be a snug fit, what with Vang0's tendency to take up as much room as he can, and Burger's, well, everything.

They could make it work, of course. Vang0 would settle for nothing less. 

Burger is looking down at him, head tilted in the way he does when he's trying to puzzle something out, and Vang0 realizes that he definitely just zoned the fuck out of whatever Burger just said, too busy staring at his dynamic face and thinking about smooching the everloving daylight out of him. God, he's an asshole.

Before he can tell Burger that he's an asshole, and that Burger does not dance with assholes unless it's the tango of combat, there is a hand, large and callused and imminently holdable, in Vang0's face. He looks into Burger's eyes just in time for Burger to ask, "Dance with me."

And it is a question, for all it wouldn't sound like one from anyone else. If Vang0 said no, Burger would drop it, and they would go back to their Wednesday night.

This does not take into account, of course, that Vang0 will never say no to Burger Chainz.

"Fuck, yeah, okay."

Vang0 grips Burger's hand to pull himself into a sitting position, only to have Burger whisk him delicately off the bed entirely. Then they're standing, practically chest to chest in the middle of the room, Vang0's hand firmly ensconced in Burger's, and Vang0 should have thought about what dancing together would entangle. Should have wracked his stupid thoughtless brain to realize that he'll be too close to Burger, that something will definitely slip out while he's tired and vulnerable, that Burger will know-

Then Burger hits another button on his phone, and the opening notes to Cupid Shuffle come on. 

Vang0 snorts, rolling his eyes as he steps into line, shuffling along to Burger's carefully telegraphed moves beside him. They dance through it twice, then the Cha Cha Slide, then a round of Cotton Eyed Joe where Vang0 surprises both of them by singing along to the whole song, laughing with Burger while they do-see-do around Vang0's threadbare area rug. They collapse onto each other when the song ends, giggling, ironically, like school children. Vang0 looks up at Burger, still grinning, and thinks _this man should never not be smiling._

That thought scares him, a little bit, but the fear is softened by the feeling of Burger's well-worn denim vest under Vang0's hands, and of Burger's gentle touch on his arm.

The opening notes of an unfamiliar song play, much softer than Vang0 was expecting, and Burger flushes (why is he flushing? Is he embarrassed by how close they are? Why does he look nervous? The questions rattle around Vang0's brain), face going soft and asks, a little gruffly, "may I have this dance?"

Vang0 can't find it in him to speak, which should be terrifying, but instead he nods vigorously.

Burger smiles as he pulls away, and before he knows it they are in the same position they started in: chest to chest, hand in hand, only Burger's other hand is snaking across Vang0's side, closer to hip than waist. Burger looks down at him with an uncharacteristically unreadable expression, and Vang0 can feel his face reddening. "Put your hand on my shoulder?"

Vang0 does, accidentally spiking his hand on the sharp studs before he gently rests his hand on the curve of Burger's shoulder meeting bicep. The other option would've been resting his hand on the collar of Burger's vest, thumb able to caress the base of his friend's neck, and just. No. Just no.

Vang0 expects them to go off again, in some ridiculous tango or waltz or other dance he can't recognize, but they only sway. It's nice, until it's torture, cause now there's nothing holding Vang0 back from imagining if they were dancing for another reason, instead of just Burger being nice. 

Vang0 closes his eyes and focuses on on the lyrics of the song so he doesn't focus on how warm Burger's hand feels through the thin material of Vang0's tank top.

"Nothing's gonna hurt you baby," the singer croons over the deep bass, "As long as you're with me, you'll be just fine. Nothing's gonna hurt you baby. Nothing's gonna take you from my side..."

Vang0's eyes snap open, and say, when did he rest his head on Burger's (kinda glorious, ngl) chest? He's not like, _mad_ about it, he just wishes his body would ask him first before doing things like draping himself over his good buddy.

His good buddy who probably didn't mean to play this super romantic-sounding song while dancing in his living room at, Vang0 glances at the monitor pointed toward them, 2:45 in the morning.

He fakes a yawn, letting himself snuggle against Burger like he's falling asleep. Honestly, if this was a thing that they did often, if he was used to the feeling of strong hands gently holding him, the swaying would probably have him dozing by now. As it is, Vang0 is definitely awake and definitely realizing that there's no way to non-awkwardly disentangle himself from Burger at the end of the song, so he gives himself a moment to enjoy the contact as the song fades out. They stand in silence for a moment, holding each other.

"I should-" Vang0 yawns again, this time real and big enough to crack his jaw. "-probably head to bed. You staying or going?"

He can feel Burger shake his head. "Seeing my ma for breakfast, gotta head out now if I wanna get there in time." He doesn't pull away, though. He folds Vang0 fully into his arms, resting his cheek on Vang0's head. "Thank you for dancing with me, buddy. I'm glad to be able to share this memory with you."

Vang0's glad that Burger can't see his face, cause he knows his face is flaming. His friend might be able to feel it though, which is the thought that gets his to pull away, thankful for the low lighting in the apartment. "Right back at ya, Burg."

He busies himself with clearing the clutter off his bed so he can sleep as Burger putters around behind him. By the time he turns back around, Burger's got his bag by the door.

Vang0 suddenly can't remember what they do to say goodbye. He can't remember how normal people part ways. The only thing he can think of to do would be to stride forward, pull Burger's head down to his level and kiss him until they both forget how to say their names, let alone see you later.

But that's not allowed, that's not what friends do, so instead he waves from the much more appropriate distance of across the room. Burger smiles, waves back, and leaves, taking Vang0's heart with him.

"Fuck," Vang0 says gently, and gets ready for bed. 


End file.
